Sight for firearms.



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33*256. OR 8930649 SR No. 893,649, PATENTED JULY 21, 1908.

P. PHILLIPS.

SIGHT FOR FIREARMS.

APPLICATION FILED APE.13,1908.

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31) JULY 21; 1908.

FIREARM8.

P. PHILLIP SIGHT FOR APPLICATION FILED APR 13,1906.

GEUMETEWEI EL WEEEW'HUMEWTS t a a a a; a: re,

a as. tatzuwlh 1 meat it" ftraffama FRANKLIN PHILLIPS, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

SIGHT FOR FIREARMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 21, 1908.

Application filed April 13, 1906. Serial No. 311,451.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN PHILLIPS, a citizen of the United States, residing at 539 Mount Prospect avenue, Newark, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sights for Firearms, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The present invention relates to adjustable sights for firearms, and its object is to furnish a means of compensating for the variations of the normal line of sight in the different pieces, as it is well known that there are no two guns which shoot alike with the same aim, that is, have the same normal.

Under the modern system of manufacture the various parts of firearms are made interchangeable, and the completed pieces may therefore beidentical from a mechanical or constructive point of view; but this does not insure absolute straightness of the barrels, nor prevent peculiarities which are individual to the different pieces, and cause each one to possess a different normal.

For shooting at long range with a rifle, it is common to use a rear sight having a hinged leaf upon which a slider carrying the sight is vertically adjustable, and the scale for setting the slider is fixed permanently and nonadjustably upon the hinged leaf.

In the present invention, I make the vertical scale separate from the hinged leaf, and sink it in a recess upon the face of the leaf, and provide it with a small adjustment longitudinally; and furnish, in addition to the scale marks, auxiliary index marks upon the leaf and adjustable scale, for showing the correct adjustment of the scale to the firing normal of the piece.

In rifle sights having a hinged leaf, it is common to mount the base of the sight upon a bed secured to the rifle barrel and to provide it with a tangent screw for setting the base adjustably to a windage scale; but no means has heretofore been provided, upon such hinged leaf sights, for making the windage scale or index adjustable to the true firing normal of the piece.

In the present invention, I furnish a gib at the rear end of the bed, which carries the index for the windage scale, and such gib is made adjustable transversely of the bed,

and the bed and gib are furnished with supplemental index marks, to set the index of the Windage scale into correct adjustment to the firing normal of the piece.

In the hinged leaf sights having adjustable eye-pieces, the marks or graduations for ranges under 400 yards are unavoidably close together, and great confusion has heretofore been caused, in setting the sight for different ranges, by the disposition below the index lines, of the index numbers 1 and 2 (for ranges of 100 and 200 yards), and the disposition above the index lines of the numbers 3, 4, 5 &c. (for ranges above 200 yards). With such an arrangement of the numbers, the marksman is liable to forget the precise arrangement of the index numbers, partly below and partly above the index lines, and to thus set the eyepiece for an elevation 100 yards greater than he intends. To obviate this defect, in the previous arrangement of the numbers, I provide the vertically adj ustable scale with numbers set astride of all the lines, so that every index mark intersects the middle of the number to which it corresponds.

My invention also includes the combination, with the open and peep-sights arranged one above the other upon the same slider, of an inlaid bar of White material like German silver, disposed horizontally, and also vertically upon the slider on the center line of both the sights, between the same, to indicate the location of such sights in a faint light.

The surface of the sight is made dark to contrast with the White line of the German silver. The use of these two lines, especially the horizontal one, enables the marksman to perfectly hold his aim, especially the elevation, in a faint light.

The invention also includes the combination of a tangent screw and nut-lock with the adjustable base of the sight, to adjust the sight horizontally for windage.

The use of the tangent screw prevents the sight from shifting by accident when the nut lock is loosened to adjust it, and the marksman is thus enabled to tell accurately the amount that he moves the sight.

The nut-lock serves to clamp the adjustable base firmly until it requires readjustment, and thus removes all strain from the tangent screw, and the liability of the sight to any play or lost motion from the wear of such screw. These improvements will be readily understood by reference to the annexed drawing, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device with a small portion of the gun-barrel, the bed-plate being fitted securely to the same. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the sight; Fig. 3 is a plan of the device Fig. 4 is an elevation of the adjustable scale for the hinged leaf; Fig. 5 is an end View of the same; Fig. 6 is a plan of the slider and Fig. 7 a horizontal section of the leaf and scale taken on line 77 in Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section on line 88 inFig. 2. Fig. 9 shows the slider alone.

The bed a of the sight is secured rigidly to the gun-barrel, and carries the adjustable base I) which is pivoted upon the bed by fulcrum-pin c, and adjusted by means of the tangent screw (1 at the front end of the bed, and the windage scale a and index f at the rear end of the bed. The up er side of the bed and the under side of the Ease are shown counterbored concentric with the fulcrumpin 0, and the pin is shown in Fig. 8 fitted through a large collar which fits in such counterbores, across the joint of the bed and base, and forms a very firm and strong fulcrum for the base.

It is immaterial how the bed is attached to the piece, and it may, if desired, be furnished with hands it, to fit upon a rifle-barrel and keyed thereon in the required position. Such bands are shown in Fig. 3, and portions of the bands attached to the bed a are shown in Fig. 2; but the bands are omitted from Fig. 1, as they are not always employed, and the bed may obviously be secured to the gun barrel by concealed screws, or any other suitable means. The leaf 9 ishinged to ears it upon the base by pin 'L in the usual manner, and has the slider 7c fitted movably thereon and clam ed at pleasure by the set-screw j. The usuaFleaf-spring is shown at 1".

The slider carries the sight or sights as hereinafter described. As shown in the plan, the rear side of the leaf is recessed longitudinally, and the edges of the recess formed with V-shaped groove Z to retain the adjustable scale m which is adapted to fit movably therein.

The face of the scale which is provided with the scale marks lies flush with the front side of the leaf, so that it is in contact with the slider, and the adjustment of the sight depends upon the coincidence of the lower edge of the slider with said scale marks.

A screw n is extended through bearings in the top of the leaf and furnished with a conical collar 0 adapted to jam against the sloping corner of the scale so as to hold the same firmly when adjusted. The screw n is shown with a milled head 12/, but a notched head may, if desired, be employed.

A notch p is formed in one edge of the scale, and a screw g inserted through the edge of the leaf into such notch, which latter is proportioned to afford only a limited vertical movement of the scale, as only such a limited movement is required to compensate for variations in the normal. The outer surface of the scale is flush with the front side of the leaf g, and the scale and leaf are formed respectively with coincident slots m for the movement of the eye-piece. The faces of the scale at opposite sides of the slot m are graduated, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The slider 7c embraces the leaf g, fitting both edges and both sides of the same, and is formed with a block 7c fitted movably to the slots m which block prevents the screw j from pressing the sides of the leaf 9 together when clamping the slider in place.

The front of the slider has acylindrical recess E to receive a revolving sight-disk A, which is pivoted in the recess by a central bolt B, which extends entirely through the slider, and has a nut B on the rear side.

The disk has a flange A at the margin which is knurled externally to beturned by the fingers, and the recess is of the same depth as the flange, so that the disk is thoroughly protected by the ends of the slider, from lateral blows or injury. The disk is provided at opposite sides of the center with perforations forming respectively an open sight 8 and a peep-sight s, the former being at the bottom of an aperture 0, large enough to see the object clearly at which the aim is directed.

A leaf-spring D is fitted upon the disk transversely beneath the head of the bolt, and holds the disk by elastic pressure when adjusted. Conical studs D upon the spring (Fig. 6) engage recesses D upon the slider (Fig. 9) when the disk is set for firing.

The sight apertures are used for taking aim when turned to the lowest position, as shown in the open sight in Fig. 2, and in the peep-sight in Fig. 8, the marksman turning the disk 180 degrees to bring either of such sights to the lowest position when required. By forming such sights upon the same disk at the same distance from the center, the rotation of the disk enables either one to be used as may be required without any loss or change of elevation. The facility for thus changing from the open sight to the peepsight is of great value in cases of changes of light or atmosphere. The diameter of the disk is greater than the vertical height of the slider, so that the upper and lower edges of the disk project beyond the recess and can thus be grasped by the fingers to rotate the disk; while the edges of the disks are fully protected by the opposite sides of the recess.

The flange has notches 8 cut in opposite edges which when the leaf g is turned down tlraitslna upon its bed, are used for shooting at point blank distance.

The surface of the disk is made of dark color, and a horizontal line if and vertical line 15 are formed at the center of the peep-hole by inlaying bars of German silver, or analogous white material.

In Fig. 8, the peep-hole s is turned to the bottom of the disk, and it will be observed that its center is on a line with the lower edge of the slider which is to be set into coincidence with the scale marks.

When the open sight is turned to the bottom of the disk as in Fig. 2, the center of the sight is brought to the same level, and the horizontal bar 25 therefore assists the marks man whenever the light is faint, to set the peep-sight in coincidence with the graduations upon the scale.

Onehalf of the graduation lines are formed upon each side of the slot m as usual, and each of the indicated figures is placed directly upon the line or scale mark, extending one-half above and one-half below the same.

The vertical scale is adjusted to the true normal of the gun by setting one of the sights to a mark upon the scale and firing repeatedly at the range corresponding to such mark, with an occasional adjustment of the scale until the shot is perfectly true at that range.

Index marks 9 are shown upon the leaf and scale, near the upper part of the same, which would be formed to coincide with one another when the true vertical firing normal of the piece is ascertained, and the vertical scale adjusted thereto. Such marks constitute a positive zero for the vertical scale.

The means for rectifying the normal of the piece in a horizontal direction, consists of the movable gib F upon the rear end of the base, such gib being adjustable to vary the index mark for the windage scale.

It is preferable to form corresponding scales upon the adjacent surfaces of the gib and bed; one of which can be read when the base is moved to the right, and the other when the base is moved to the left, from its central position.

A seat 0 is formed upon the base concentric with its pivot c, to receive such gib, with a rabbet 0 at the forward edge of the recess, and the gib F is formed with a tongue G fitted to such rabbet. Slots 9; are formed in the gib as shown in Fig. 3, and screws :0 are inserted through the slots into the base. The gib is formed with ears 0) at its opposite ends which extend past the edges of the base, with suHicient clearance to move the gib a little laterally, and screws v are inserted through the slots to adjust the gib upon the base by pressure against its edges.

Index marks F are shown upon the base and gib independent of the windage scale, and the means of determining such marks by the firing normal of the piece will be presently explained.

The contiguous surfaces of the gib and bed may be beveled as shown in Fig. 8, and the windage scale a formed upon both, with index marks f at the end of each.

The tangent screw (1 is fitted to bearings to at the front end of the bed, said bearings being rabbeted upon a line contiguous with the pivot-bolt 0, so as to hook over upon the fiat end of the base.

The concentric end of the base is formed with teeth fitted to the screw (1, and the turning of the screw thus turns the entire sight upon the bed around the bolt 0, to shift the sight u on the bed. A screw y is extended upwarr through the bed and a lock-nut z fitted to the top of the same and provided with thumb-piece 2 by which it may be turned into firm contact with the top of the base to clamp it tightly upon the bed when adjusted.

In adjustin the sight for windage, the lock-nut is unc amped while movin the base with the tangent screw; and reloc ed when the sight is adjusted.

For adjustin the index f to the horizontal normal of the firearm, the piece is tested at the target and the sight adjusted until it shoots correctly, and the gib F is then shifted by the screws 1; until the index mark f sets at the end of zero of the windage scale 6, and the normal index marks F are then made.

If the marksman who uses the piece habitually pulls the piece to the right or the left at the moment of firing, the error produced by such habit can be determined by trial at the target, and the gib F shifted to compensate for such error. The index f then indicates the correct position of the base upon the bed a, when adjusted for that individual marksman.

The normal marks F are only applied when the correct horizontal firing normal of the piece is ascertained, and then form a positive zero for the Windage scale. The vertical or horizontal scale or index may be shifted from these positive zero marks whenever required, to compensate for special conditions of the atmosphere or habits of the marksman, which necessitate a variation in the adjustment of the scale.

It is found that variations of temperature and moisture affect the density of the atmoshere and its resistance to the flight of the ullet, so that a sight requires to be adjusted a little higher in dry or cold weather than when the weather is hot or moist, the resistance to the bullet then being greater.

The construction of the rifie-sight is usually such as to set its base parallel to the bore of the gun, but such a position of the sight is in any case only a guide to the lateral aim of the marksman, which is an erroneous guide if the firing normal of the piece does not cor- &

respond with the axis of the bore, for which reason means to adjust the horizontal scale or index is nearly always required.

As variations of the vertical normal are also found to extend in different firearms, it is evident that means is required to adjust the sight also to the true vertical normal. Where a lock-nut alone or a tangent screw alone is used, the marksman is liable to lose the adjustment when the nut is loosened, or the thread of the tangent screw is liable to wear, and thus hold the sight uncertainly, and the combination of the lock-nut and tangent screw with the bed a and base I) secures the most perfect result in the adjustment and use of the sight.

From the above description it is evident that any marksman can, by suitable tests, determine the true horizontal and vertical normal of any firearm, and by the means I have provided can set the horizontal and vertical scales to such positive normal positions.

In the use of a large number of firearms, as for a regiment of soldiers, it is obvious that such testing and marking of the true normal can be done before their issue for use.

It will be understood that the conical studs D guide the marksman when rotating the disk, to set it in a suitable position for firing with the sight-openings on the center line of the leaf as shown in Fig. 2.

The studs are shown in Fig. 6 formed with conical points, and Fig. 9 shows the indentations for these points to engage when the disk is set for firing; but studs with rounded points may be used with the same effect.

Either rounded or conical studs are pushed out of the recesses D when the disk is turned by the fingers, and snapped back into the same or opposite recess when the disk is turned to reverse the adjustment of the open and peep-sight.

Fig. 2 shows horizontal lines it and vertical lines t intersecting the peep-sight s, which lines represent inlaid bars of German silver or other light colored material.

The surface of the disk is darkened, and the contrast between such lines and the dark surface of the disk assists the marksman very materially in holding his aim in a faint light.

All of the above devices combine to make this sight meet all the conditions required for a military sight of the most accurate type, for either battle or target purposes.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what is claimed herein is:

1. A gun sight comprising the bed a fitted to the gun-barrel, the adjustable base I) pivoted upon the bed near the front end, the gib F secured adjustably upon the base at its rear end, the junction of the gib and the bed being provided with a windage scale and index mark, and the junction of the gib with the base being provided with supplemental index marks F showing the normal adjustment of the windage scale, whereby such index may be adjusted horizontally in relation to the firing normal of the gun.

2. A gun sight comprising the bed a fitted to the gun-barrel, the adjustable base I) pivoted upon the bed near the front end, the gib F secured adjustably upon the base at its rear end, with flush surfaces formed upon the gib and the bed contiguous to one another and duplicate scales and index marks formed upon the opposed edges at their junction.

3. A gun sight comprising the bed a fitted to the gun-barrel, the adjustable base I) pivoted upon the bed near the front end, the gib F secured adjustably upon the base at its rear end, the adjacent surfaces of the gib and bed being beveled and their junction provided with a scale and index, whereby the scale is giscible from the top or from the end of the 4. A gun sight comprising the bed a fitted to the gun-barrel, the adjustable base I) pivoted upon the bed near the front end, and having the seat 0 with concentric rabbet 0 at its rear end, the gib F with tongue fitted to such rabbet, means for clamping the gib upon the seat, with lugs and screws at op 0- site ends for adjusting the gib horizontally, and the windage scale and index applied to the junction of the gib and bed.

5. In a gun sight having a hinged leaf, the combination, with the leaf slotted vertically and recessed upon the rear side with V- shaped groove Z in each edge of the recess, of the vertically slotted scale m lying within the recess of the leaf and having edges fitted to the grooves Z and provided with scale marks for the entire range of elevation, the slider fitted to the leaf and adjusted by coincidence with the scale marks, and the scale and leaf having the supplemental index marks g for adjusting the scale itself to the firing normal of the gun.

6. In a gun sight having a hinged leaf, the combination, with the leaf slotted vertically and recessed upon the rear side, of the Vertically slotted scale m fitted within the recess of the leaf and provided with scale marks for the entire range of elevation, a slider provided with an open sight and pee -sight and having parts upon the front and ack of the leaf and screw j at the side to secure the same, and one of said parts having the block 10 extended into the slot to resist the compression of the screw.

7. In a gun sight having a hinged leaf, the combination, with the bed secured to the gun-barrel, and the base ivoted movably upon the bed and provider at one end with the windage scale 6, of the adjustable gib F having the indexf for the windage scale, and the base and gib rovided with the index marks F for adjustlng the index f to the correct firing normal of the gun, and the leaf g slotted vertically and recessed upon the rear side and provided with the slider 7c carrying the sight, and havin the vertically slotted scale m fitted movab y within the recess of the leaf flushwith the inner surface of the slider, the slots in the scale m and leaf being coincident, the clamp-screw j for clamping the slider upon the leaf, and the slider having the block is fitted movably to the slots to resist the compression of the screw, and the scale having a series of scale marks for sight elevation and the sight being adjusted by the coincidence of the slider with said marks.

8. A gun si ht having a hinged leaf with longitudinal s 0t, and recesses having V- shaped grooves at opposite edges, a longitudinally slotted scale having its edges fitted movably to such V-shaped grooves, and a screw fitted transversely to the leaf and provided with a conical collar adapted to jam against the slopin corner of the scale to clamp the same in p ace.

9. In a gun-sight havin a hinged leaf, the combination, with the leaf slotted vertically, of a slider having a recess in the rear side, and a sight-disk pivoted movably in the recess with its u per and lower edges projected therefrom or turning the disk by the fingers, and provided upon opposite sides of its pivot with perforations for open and peep-sights, substantially as herein set forth.

10. In a gun sight having a hinged leaf, the

combination, with the leaf slotted vertically, of a slider having a sight-disk pivoted movably thereon and provided upon opposite sides of its pivot with perforations for open and peep-sights and having a flange with notches at opposite sides of the center for a point blank sight.

11. In a gun si ht having a hinged leaf, the combination, wit 1 the leaf slotted vertically,

of a slider having a recess in the rear side,

and a sight-disk pivoted movably in the recess with its upper and lower edges projected therefrom for turnin the disk by the fingers.

12. In a gun sight Iiaving a hinged leaf, the combination, with the leaf slotted vertically, of a slider having a sight-disk with pivot-bolt in the center, and a leaf-spring secured by the bolt to press the sight-disk toward the slider, substantially as set forth.

13. In a gun sight having a hinged leaf, the combination, with the leaf slotted vertically, of a slider having a sight-disk with pivot-bolt in the center, the disk having open and peepsights at opposite sides of the center, and spring-studs D, to set the disk, when turned, with such sights in the firing line of the gun.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANKLIN PHILLIPS.

Witnesses:

L. LEE, THOMAS S. CRANE. 

